Jake Catlett Photography

Ratatat #1

I know it’s been far too long since I’ve posted anything.  Let it suffice to say I’ve been extremely busy, and unfortunately none of that busy time has been spent taking photos.  However, I got out this weekend for Loretofest, an all afternoon/night music festival put on by Loreto, a locally based charity organization.  Several bands played, some of which I liked very much, some of which I did not.  My favorite of the evening was the main act, Ratatat, from New York City.

I photographed several of the bands on Saturday evening, but since I was shooting for my blog only, it was pretty much a simple formula:  if I liked the band, the photos were better.  If I didn’t, then they weren’t so hot.  Since Ratatat were easily the best band that night, their photos came out best, and I decided to just post photos from their performance and none of the others.

I’m not sure what the deal was with the lighting – the other acts that came before them seemed to have some spotlights on them, but during Ratatat’s set they seemed to only have blue backlights and no spots at all.  The result is that I had two color schemes to work with when optimizing my photos – blue, or black & white.  I chose to do a few of each.  Beyond the mono-color issues, the lighting just sucked in general.  With no front lighting it was very difficult for me to get photos with any frontal features captured unless I completely blew out the backgrounds.  I did get a few shots like this that I liked, however I definitely prefer the darker, silhouette-type images I got.

I don’t know exactly how one would describe Ratatat’s music.  They actually don’t sound like any other band I know, which is a very good thing, of course.  They’re a two-piece, with one guy usually on guitar and the other usually on bass, but they switch up at times, and they both play keyboards and various other odd instruments, including an autoharp.  They utilize driving rock rhythms with techno-style beats, all mixed together into a flavor that’s distinctly their own.  Their music is purely instrumental, so if you’re looking for something poppy or commercial, look elsewhere.

Ratatat played in Saigon at a bar/restaurant called Pacharan at the beginning of the summer, and I was there in the front row taking shots.  However, the complete lack of stage lighting there, combined with my excessive state of alcohol intoxication meant that I basically didn’t get any shots worth showing anybody.  I’m glad they came back to play again, first because they’re a great act and I enjoyed seeing them play another time, and second because I actually got some images worth keeping!

They’re going to be playing again this Saturday at a new local rock club called Hi-Fi, and I’ll be shooting again at that show.  So, now you know why this post is marked as “#1″…  “#2″ will be coming soon!

For the guys in Ratatat – thanks for coming out again!  Until very recently Vietnam has seemed completely devoid of any kind of decent live music.  Somehow it seems like your show at the beginning of this summer was the beginning of the end of that.  There are some exciting bands that will be coming to Saigon over the next several months, we’ll have to see if they can out do you guys…